1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar simulator, and particularly, to a solar simulator using a combination of mercury and halogen lamps so as to be capable of providing an environment with an illumination and a temperature approximating daily changes of radiated sunlight by combining commercial mercury lamps, halogen lamps and halogen filter lamps having an infrared filter.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, an environment recreation laboratory (testing room) is installed indoors. In the environment recreation laboratory, performance and durability of a subject to be tested (sample) is examined within an environment approximating the natural environmental conditions. In order to successfully carry out the performance and durability test on various goods and weapons, equipment for an environment recreation test, which is arranged within the environment recreation laboratory, should be able to recreate conditions approximating the natural environment as much as possible.
A solar simulator, a lighting device arranged in the environment recreation laboratory, uses a halogen lamp or an infrared lamp to simulate sunlight. However, the halogen lamp and the infrared lamp cannot create all the wavelengths of sunlight. Therefore, to improve the accuracy of the environment recreation test, it is better to perform the test under conditions of actual sunlight than in the environment recreation laboratory.
Also, some solar simulators simulate the spectral wavelengths of sunlight by using a metal-halide lamp or an arc xenon lamp, but are problematic for several reasons: expensive lamps and difficult manipulation.